An Adventure of New Expectations
by CalculusNova
Summary: A young boy, his elder sister, and their childhood friend never would have expected things to turn out the way they had. Being entrusted on a quest to travel the Pokémon World by the children's father, these three youths will soon uncover new truths, discover new hardships, and find out where their existence lies in the world. TRIPLE NUZLOCK CHALLENGE on FIRE RED and LEAF GREEN!
1. Prologue

**An Adventure of New Expectations**

\- Prologue –

The Pokémon World was a mysterious place, indeed. You take these creatures, very similar to animals — physical features and behaviors being taken into consideration — only they clearly weren't. These pokémon were just as mysterious, invoked with tremendous abilities and powers that within the hands of certain people could've proved to be miraculous and lead to an advance for human society... or it could've proved to be horrendous and lead to nothing but destruction. This was what I had come to conclude from the many stories I had heard about pokémon and how the current world had come to be.

I was born and raised in a small, little country town on the southeast coast of the Kanto Region called Pallet Town. Not a whole lot goes on in the area; small family farming has been the primary industry in the area and technology still hadn't reached these parts, at least, not as much as it had the larger, more populated cities. This place was a haven for people who'd grown tired of the hustle and bustle of "big city life" and wanted a more relaxing environment in which raising a family could be a more enjoyable thing. I'd not known any other life so I couldn't say otherwise, but I too had lived very comfortably.

My mother and father had shared with me their stories of how life used to be for them growing up, raising and training pokémon for their travels across the world, winning and losing pokémon battles, learning and loving despite all of the hardships that they'd had to experience. To some degree, I too would have wanted to experience that kind of life; however, with the way the world had change over the past few decades that would've proved to be impossible, now.

May 7th, twenty years ago, I suppose that date marked the start of it all; it was a date that would've lived in everyone's memories — at least, it would've to those who were around to remember it. Twenty years ago was when the world and people's understanding of the world had shifted on its side. _That_ organization had shown itself for the first time, and things had not been the same since.

What happened was that scientists — now known to have been from _that_ organization — had conducted research on pokémon and their latent, dormant abilities. Supposedly, the idea had been to use pokémon's latent abilities to make pokémon battles more exciting and "flashy." People had grown attached to the idea of making pokémon battles more exciting so the idea had come to fruition. These scientists had designed an "experimental prototype" of pokéball that when a pokémon was captured in one, or transferred to one, their latent, dormant powers would have awakened and could then engage in longer, fiercer battles.

The prototype pokéball had grown in popularity to the point that within the first year, nearly every pokémon trainer had begun to use the new design. There had been a few trainers reluctant to take on this new wave, but enough damage had been done to the pokéball market that all off the old styled pokéball manufacturers had decommissioned the old model and had adopted this new design into their marketing. That had been the beginning of a soon to be calamity.

On May 7th, of the year these new pokéballs became the new "normality," _that_ organization had sent a world-wide public announcement that _they_ were the creators of the new pokéballs, that _they_ were taking claim over the Pokémon League, and in a matter of course, the whole Pokémon World. People had laughed at the idea, and didn't pay any heed to their words, but _that_ organization had expected as much and showed their true hand.

It turned out that the new pokéball design had a few other characteristics that weren't publicly known. One of which was that as a means of "awakening" the latent, dormant abilities of trainers' pokémon, the pokéballs were really designed to hypnotize the pokémon, in the process, getting rid of the mental block that pokémon subconsciously produced as a precautionary measure to prevent them from exhausting their life energy. This did two things: it put trainers' pokémon under the direct control of _that_ organization and when a pokémon had exhausted their life energy, instead of fainting, indicating the end of a battle, the pokémon would die.

Since that time, all pokémon trainers, people who fell under the Pokémon League's jurisdiction, and subsequently, anyone who had something to do with pokémon had been affected. _That_ organization had gained incredible ground and stability. Anyone who was found to be in _that_ organization's disfavor would have had their own pokémon turned against them. New rules had been developed, making the profession of simply being a pokémon trainer in itself a more difficult feat.

Some people had adapted to the new ways; others had simply turned away in disgrace. People just simply didn't know what to do from that point on but to either continue their existence in this "new world" with its new rules, or to remove themselves from the scene altogether. This was where we now stood.

I didn't know why _they_ did it. I didn't think anyone knew other than the people who were directly behind _that_ organization. The only thing I did know was what the current rules of the world were now. What kind of effect did or would it have on me, I did not know.

\- End of Prologue –

* * *

 **NOTICE!**

Rules for participation in the Pokémon League challenge:

(1) Obtain [first] pokémon from the nearest Pokémon League outpost — located in any major city/town with an official Pokémon League gym.

(2) When registering at Pokémon League outpost, an official Pokémon League pokégear will be issued to each new trainer. The pokégear has a digital trainer card that contains the identification number corresponding to their respective pokémon trainer.

(3) Only pokémon captured, gifted, or traded with official Pokémon League pokéballs will be accepted acquirements of pokémon. Any tampering with said pokéballs or use unauthorized pokéball variety will mean immediate disqualification from Pokémon League challenge and forfeiture of said acquired pokémon. Further penalties will apply as applicable.

(4) Upon acquiring any new pokémon in a _new_ area — regardless of whether said pokémon were gifted or captured in a wild battle — the Pokémon League database will record pokémon acquirement and lock out any future pokémon acquirements in said area. (Note: Pokémon _traded_ through official Pokémon League transfer stations do not count as a gift transaction as one pokémon is being traded for a different one, and the pokémon count remains the same.)

(5) Pokémon battles can be forfeited at any moment, and forfeiting trainers will be penalized by an automatic transfer of half money earnings being transferred to winning trainer — however, trainers are not obliged to end their battles for the sake of their opponents. If a trainer's entire pokémon team falls in battle, all of their money earnings will be transferred to the winning trainer, and the losing trainer's entry in the Pokémon League challenge will be disqualified. The control of all subsequent pokémon under said disqualified trainer will be transferred to the Pokémon League.

(6) Upon acceptation and commission of the above conditions in regards to entry into the Pokémon League challenge, all new and old trainers are allowed to continue competing in the Pokémon League challenge.

If trainers and potential trainers have additional questions needed to be answered, all trainers and potential trainers will be referred to nearest Pokémon League outpost to acquire appropriate answers.


	2. Chapter One - The Old Laboratory

**An Adventure of New Expectations**

\- Chapter One – The Old Laboratory –

The country air around the small settlement of Pallet Town is truly a wonderful thing. For the longest of time, I've made it a habit to escape to the edge of town and observe the pokémon scurrying within the tall grass. I've always gotten excited by the stories my mother and father would tell me about their experiences being pokémon trainers and traveling the world with their pokémon friends. Sometimes, I would envision myself with a pokémon team and raising them to compete in the old Pokémon League. Of course, _that_ was the past.

"Ken!" I heard my name being called. "Where are you, Ken?" I opened my eyes, and after letting them adjust to the bright light, I spot off in the distance a girl with long brown hair with a white hat fixed to her head, apparently it was my sister calling out to me.

"Lief?" I muttered groggily, having just woken up. She turned her head in my direction and began walking to where I was positioned.

"Geez, Kenneth! You know you shouldn't be so close to the tall grass," she began chastising me. "You know Mom and Dad are always on about, 'You never know if a wild pokémon will attack you!'" I rubbed my eyes to get rid of the tiredness and then looked back at Lief who was staring down at me. She had her arms crossed and seemed somewhat annoyed.

"I'm sorry, Liefia." I started saying apologetically, "I didn't mean to worry you, Mom, or Dad. I just wanted to see the pokémon in the tall grass; though, I didn't see any this time. I guess I fell asleep reading, again." We were shaded from the sun by one of the large oak trees. I had in my lap my pokémon encyclopedia I got for my birthday last year; I was reading it before falling asleep.

Lief merely sighed. "Ken, be more careful next time," she responded gently while holding out her hand for me to grab.

"Right," I remarked grabbing her hand. She then pulled me into a standing position.

"Good!" Lief said smiling back at me. She then paused, apparently thinking about something. "Oh!" she announced, slamming the bottom of her right fist into the flat of her left palm in the process, "There was a reason I was looking for you!" She then grabs my left wrist with her right arm and begins running in the direction to the center of town, dragging me along with her. "Come on!"

"Wait!" I protested in reaction, startled more by her abrupt action. "Don't pull me so suddenly! Wah…" I tripped in the process, falling loose from Lief's grip, hitting the ground. "Ow! That hurt, Lief!" I complained.

Lief stopped running and turned around to look at me. "Sorry!" she said, "I didn't mean to make you trip."

I got back up in a standing position, dusting my pants and shirt off to rid them of the dirt from the ground. "Well, don't pull on me without warning," I retort, "What did you want me for, anyways?"

Lief answered, "Well, Mom told me this morning to find you. She said that Dad wants to speak with us at the old lab."

"The lab?" I questioned, "Why would he want us to go there? He's told us many of times we shouldn't go there, that there's nothing for us there."

"I know, but this is just what Mom said. Maybe something is there after all." Lief chuckled offhandedly, a sign that she must have been excited about something, apparently in anticipation for what Dad wanted us for. "But we should hurry. Mom told me this almost an hour ago. It took me a while to find you." Lief then put a wide smile on her face, "In fact, I'll race you there. Last one there has to do the other's chores for the day!"

"What? I'm not going to race you. You know I'll lose." I stated my position knowing clearly what the end result would be if I went along with her challenge.

Although, Lief simply ignored my remark and continued to do her thing, "Okay! One… two… three… go!" and then she runs off with a head start toward Grandpa's old laboratory.

"Lief!" I yelled in her direction, running just behind her. I didn't plan on doing her chores for her, regardless of the results, but I didn't want to be left behind, either.

About twenty minutes had passed and by then I could see the old laboratory off in the distance. It's a modest sized building; though, it's probably the largest in size compared to all the other buildings in Pallet Town. The lab had been in the family for a long time, since before I was born. It belonged to my great-grandfather decades ago, but when Grandpa mysteriously disappeared one day, Dad has had everyone stay away from the lab. I don't know why, he has never explained his reasons; we just did what he says.

"Ha! I win!" Lief exclaimed with her right hand on the front door of the lab. She was a little out of breath, but for the most part she was fine. "Now you have to do my chores!" Lief began laughing feeling triumphant for her "victory."

"I told you, I wasn't racing." I mumbled to myself. I was still a good distance away from the lab entrance so Lief wouldn't have been able to hear me even if I had spoken a little louder. I think I was more exhausted than Lief at this point because I wasn't used to as much physical activity as she was.

Once I caught up to Lief, she turned the door knob to the laboratory's entrance to open the door. "Now then, let's see why Dad wanted us." She then walked in very abruptly, letting herself be known. "Dad, we're here!" she announced, loud enough so that anyone in the building would be able to hear, "Mom said you had something you wanted to say to us?" There was no response.

"Maybe he's in the back." I commented, having walked through the door after Lief had, albeit more subtle. Lief was obviously disappointed that here grandiose entrance was ruined by a lack of spectators.

"Well, I guess so," she said already heading toward the back; I follow her lead. "Let's check Grandpa's office. It's been awhile, but I think is that way," she said pointing at a hallway.

"This is Grandpa's lab, huh?" I passively asked not really expecting a response. "I can't remember anything about this place. All the machines are shut down, too."

"Yeah, I remember it a little because I'm older," Lief reminisced about some of her memories of the lab, "but it's kind of eerie now that no one's here."

"It is a little." I certainly didn't disagree with her that the place could do to be a little livelier.

"Ah, this must be it!" she announced as we stepped in front of a door supposedly leading to Grandpa's old office. Lief opened the door and entered; though, less abruptly than earlier when she entered the building, she was still quick in entering. I came in just behind her. "Dad, are you in here?" she asked in the dark room. The lone window in the room is covered by binds so it was hard to see after having just entered from the main room where the outside light shines freely; our eyes were still adjusting to the abrupt change in light level.

"No, your dad's not here," a voice answered from within the room.

"Reggie, is that you?" Lief asked the voice in the room.

"Yes, but don't call me that! The name's Red, now, and you know it!" he explained. Red then moved over to the window to raise the window blinds, letting light flood into the room making things easier to see.

"Oh, right, 'Red,' I forgot." Lief laughed sarcastically, "I will be sure to never call you that again."

"Red, why are you here? Did Dad ask you to come here, too?" I asked him, curious about his reasons for being here.

"Yeah, Mom woke me up this morning saying your dad was on the phone and wanted to talk to me," Red began to explain, "I don't know what he wanted, but he did tell me to meet him here. He also said that I should expect to see you two, as well."

"Oh, well, where is Dad, then? He called us here, so he should've been here by now." Lief said a little irritated because of our missing father.

"I don't know. When I got here, he wasn't here. I looked around the whole building, but I couldn't find him. I just started looking in this room and then you guys showed up. There was this letter on the desk, though."

"Really, let me see!" Lief said grabbing the letter out of Red's hand. "Well, this _does_ look like Dad's handwriting. Right, Ken?"

"Yes, it does." I agreed looking at the letter from over Lief's shoulder. "I wonder when he wrote it. Uh, well, it looks like the letter is addressed to us. 'Dear Kenneth, Liefelia, and Reginald...'"

"What! Did he really write my full first name in there?" Red interjected, cutting me off.

"Yes, he did, though he wrote _all_ of our names out." I quickly said to quell Red's complaint. I then continued reading, "'I apologize for not being there to speak with you in person as I have very important things to discuss with you about, but there is a lot I have to do away from home for a while and I don't have a whole lot of time to do it in.'"

"Dad's leaving town again?" Lief asked no one in specific, "Why didn't he just tell us himself? Or for that matter, why did he want us to come here just to read a letter?" Yes, Dad did leave town fairly often, sometimes months on end. We didn't know why. When we'd ask why, Mom and Dad would be very vague and not outright say why.

"I don't know. Maybe the answer's in the letter. Come on, Ken, continue reading!" Red stated, apparently excited by the whole situation. Maybe he thought it was like a mystery or something.

"Okay, 'Your mothers and I agree that it is time you three know the truth about our history and the history surrounding the Pokémon League. There has been heavy turmoil in the world over the past few decades, starting before you were born. Up to today, the center of that turmoil lies with the Pokémon League and the under workings within it. Many of the problems have originated there; Grandpa going missing being one of them. I would have wished not to involve you in this matter, but given the particular circumstances I find myself in, I have no other choice. Kenneth, Liefelia, and Reginald, I want you three to take part in the Pokémon League challenge."

"Is he serious?" Red interjects astonished. "Mom agreed to this idea? But I've asked many times and she's always said 'no.'"

"This seems pretty big. I'm getting excited." Lief stated liking where things are going.

I didn't say anything in response. I didn't really know what to say with what the letter was telling us. I merely continue reading, "'I have already registered your information with the Pokémon League central database. Inside the desk drawer lays a briefcase with three pokéballs and the pokégear registered with each of your information.'"

"Is this it?" Red asked taking a brown briefcase out from the desk in the room.

"It should be," I stated seeing as the briefcase _was_ where the letter explained it to be. I then continued reading, "The pokéballs contain three different pokémon I've raised in secret. You three can choose from them: Charmander, the fire type pokémon; Bulbasaur, the grass and poison type pokémon; and Squirtle, the water type pokémon. When you select your pokémon, the pokégear will automatically register the pokémon as being acquired in Pallet Town. I've also modified the pokégear with the research Grandpa and I have done as a measure to counter the current Pokémon League. With the current model of pokéballs used by the Pokémon League, they can lay claim to any pokémon trainer's pokémon at their volition. The modification to the pokégear will disable the Pokémon League's ability of taking direct control of your pokémon. I do not know what other effect the tampering will have on your pokémon, but Grandpa and I felt that it will be necessary when going against the Pokémon League. As I said, I am going to be away for some time; you may find me if you come to the Pokémon League. Before leaving, talk with your mother as she will have more to say. I hope for the best of you three.'" I pause for a bit after finishing the letter, and quickly read through the letter again to see if I missed any details. "Dad really wants us to do this?" I muttered quietly.

"It looks like he does! Aren't you excited?" Lief remarked seemingly trying to pass her enthusiasm to Red and me.

"I guess so," I said a little uncertain, "but I don't know for sure."

"Well, it seems he registered us already." Red said grabbing the pokégear with his name on it. "Now, how do you turn this on? Ah, here we go!" he then announced as the pokégear comes to life. "So, who should get what pokémon?"

"Me! I want this one!" Lief claimed the pokéball with the Charmander before even grabbing her pokégear. "Being a fire type, this little guy should be full of fury and passion, perfect for pokémon battles! How do you register it, then?" she questions as she grabbed the pokégear with her name on it turned it on just as Red had.

"So impatient." Red complains shaking his head at Lief's brash behavior, "How about you, Ken? Which one do you want?"

"Uh, I don't know." I really didn't know. I _was_ excited, but really uncertain at the same time about the whole situation. I wasn't like Lief or Red who seemed to adapt to how things were going. "Why don't you pick and I will get the remaining one." I suggested to Red.

"Okay, then I will pick the Squirtle. If I recall, water type pokémon are strong against fire type."

"What! No fair!" Lief complains accusatorily.

"You got to pick first so even if I do get the pokémon with the type advantage it is perfectly fair." Red defends himself. "Besides, it's not like we will actually battle each other for real. You know what happen to pokémon in an all-out battle."

"Oh, you're right." Lief agreed, not having an excuse to complain about. I merely had a downcast attitude after hearing Red explain the battle situation. A part of my apprehension was simply because of that fact and that I didn't want anything to happen to my pokémon, or my friend, or anyone else's, for that matter.

I grabbed the remaining pokéball with the Bulbasaur inside. I supposed this was an okay choice after all. I've read in my pokémon encyclopedia that Bulbasaur are easy pokémon to get along with sometimes. I then picked up the remaining pokégear with _my_ name on it and turned it on just as Red and Lief had done. Apparently, when you have a pokémon — inside a pokéball — in your hand, and the pokégear registered to you is on, the pokémon will be automatically registered, just as Dad briefly explained in the letter. When searching through the pokégear's menus, I found that the device also contained data about our pokémon: stats, abilities, natures. It's was even asking if I wanted to get the Bulbasaur a nick name. I thought a little then input "Bud," which I also muttered verbally.

"You're naming your Bulbasaur 'Bud?'" Lief asked.

"I am," I began to explain, "Bulbasaurs have bulbs on their back, like a bud, and also I want 'Bud' to be friends with me, like buddies."

"I think it's a great name!" Red stated to defend the name I chose, "I've named my Squirtle 'Armor' because Squirtles have a hard shell like armor and can protect its friends and my friends!" Red then smiles at me.

"Oh, well I named my Charmander 'Sharlot.' She's a girl so I wanted to give her a girl's name." Lief commented because Red and I had already said the names we chose. "Now that we have our pokémon, let's go see Mom! Come on, Ken!" Lief stated ready to leave the room. She then turned to face Red and told him, "This sounds like a pretty big thing, huh?"

"Yeah, you're right." Red answered. "I think when we get home we should pack the things we'll need for the trip and then tomorrow we'll meet at the entrance to Route One in the morning. Does that sound alright?"

"Sounds great!" Lief confirmed. I merely nod my head in confirmation to the plan. "See you tomorrow morning then!" she then walks the rest of the way out of the room and out of the laboratory to go home. I follow her lead, and Red is shortly after us. Red lives in the opposite direction to our house in relation to the Grandpa's lab so we lose sight of him after a few minutes of walking.

Lief and I returned home without any complications. "Hi, Mom, we're back!" Lief announced as we came through the front door. We saw Mom sitting at the dining room table, which we could see from the entrance; she must have been waiting for us to return home to finish what Dad had written about.

"Welcome back." Mom responded with a gentle smile, though, I guess she might have been a little worried as well. "Did you get what your father left you?"

"Yeah we did; they're right here." Lief answered taking out her pokégear and pokéball with Sharlot in it. I followed Lief's example and slowly took my pokégear and pokéball with Bud inside out of my pockets to show them to Mom.

"Oh, you haven't taken your pokémon out of their pokéballs, yet?" Mom asked us.

"Ahh, I can't believe we forgot that!" Lief exclaimed out of worry and supposed thoughtlessness. "I think this is how you do it." She said as she then pushed the button on the face of the pokéball to release Sharlot. A white light then flashed out of the now opened pokéball and a small, fiery Charmander comes out. "There we go," Lief remarked, happy with her action. She then kneeled down to Sharlot's level to introduce herself.

I quickly followed suite and released Bud, as well. Getting on my knees, I said, "Hi there, how are you doing? It must've been uncomfortable in that ball, huh?" Bud didn't respond — of course he didn't respond, pokémon cannot talk, after all — but he did tilt his head as though out of curiosity toward the person in front of him.

"No, the inside the ball's not uncomfortable, but it is lonely." voiced the fiery pokémon in Lief's grasps.

"What?" Lief sputtered with a dumbstruck expression, Mom and I had a similar expression, too. "Did you just talk?"

"I just did," Sharlot said flatly, I guess annoyed that Lief even had to ask.

I just stared at the Charmander, and then I switched to glance at Bud, was he able to speak, as well? He didn't respond when I ask him a question, though I didn't actually expect a verbal response from the pokémon. "C-can you speak, t-too?" a stuttered, a little curious, but also a little hesitant to find out.

"I can," Bud states answering my question. I just blink not knowing what kind of response to make.

"Oh, my, this is rather curious. I've heard of and experienced pokémon communicate telepathically if they are psychically capable, "Mom started explaining, "But to actually use human word in a verbal conversation. That is unheard of."

"How is this possible, Mom?" Lief asked.

"I'm not certain." Mom responded.

"Um," I began to speak taking out the letter Dad had written us, rereading a certain part, "Dad did say he didn't know what other effect tampering with our pokégear would have on our pokémon. Maybe this is one of them.

"Well, in any case, this might actually be very convenient!" my mother said optimistically, "If you can understand your pokémon, not just by feeling — like we had to growing up — but by actually communicating, then your journey should be that much easier."

I then turned my head to face the pokémon. "I guess so." I then got back down to my pokémon's level, "It's startling you guys can speak."

"We've always been able to understand you guys, it's just now that you can understand us!" Sharlot said a little superiorly.

"I guess that's true," Lief commented from behind me.

"So that means Armor can also speak, too, right?" I asked for confirmation of my thoughts.

"I guess that would be right." Lief answered, "I'm sure we'll find out tomorrow."

"Who's 'Armor?"" Sharlot asked.

"Oh, that's the Squirtle that was with you two when we found you at the lab. Red, gave him that name," Lief answered, "And you are 'Sharlot,'" she pointed to the Charmander then to the Bulbasaur, "And you are 'Bud.'"

"Is that alright?" I asked the Bulbasaur, explaining my reasons, "I named you Bud because this Pokégear asked me if I wanted to name you something, and I thought it was fitting."

"That's fine," the Bulbasaur, responded, "I never had a name before now."

"Well, I don't know if I like the name 'Sharlot,'" the Charmander started to complain.

"What's wrong with the name?" Lief asked, upset that her pokémon didn't like the name she chose, "I can't change the name, anyways; once a name is put in, it's locked in. See?" Lief showed Sharlot the pokégear and how she couldn't change the name. "In any case, we are now partners and we'll go on an adventure together."

"I'll go," Sharlot said a little smug, "but only because I know he will be going," she said pointing at Bud, "Also that I wouldn't mind going on an adventure."

"The person who raised us…" Bud started but got interrupted mid-sentence.

"Are you referring to Dad?" Lief asked.

"Yes, your father, when raising us," Bud continued, "he would talk with us even though he could not understand us. He would sometimes say something about going with his children on a quest. I suppose he means this 'adventure,' but I didn't understand everything, so I only understand so little. I'll go, if only to find out more about what he was talking about, and I don't mind going with you." Bud finished nodding to Ken.

"Okay, then, well, we'll need to pack our bags with supplies. I don't know how long we will be gone." I stated then looked to my mother, "Mom, we were planning to leave tomorrow morning, and Lief and I were going to meet up with Red at the entrance to Route One."

"Yes, I understand, I knew that this was going to happen when I discussed it with your father. I started packing a few supplies for you, some pokéballs, potions and a bag to fit everything in for each of you." Mom sighed in resignation, "You two should pack your clothes and personal items, but know you are bringing only what you can carry." Mom hugs me, then Leif and then let's us go upstairs to pack the last of our things.

The rest of the day and night was very eventful. Red called mid-packing stating his astonishment that Armor could speak; Mom had shared with us a suggestion of routes we should follow as the most advantageous passage on our journey; and then we had a large feast in celebration of tomorrow's departure. I did worry a little the rest of the night about how things might turn out, but I took casual glances at Bud and thought to myself that things would be alright. The only thing left was to wait and see what the next day would bring on our adventure.

\- End of Chapter One – The Old Laboratory -

* * *

 **TRAINER CARD**

 **TRAINER:** Kenneth / Kenny / Ken  
 **BADGES:** None  
 **POKÉMON:** Bulbasaur  
 **LOCATION:** Pallet Town  
 **NICKNAME:** Bud  
 **GENDER:** Male  
 **LEVEL:** 5  
 **NATURE:** Calm  
 **ABILITY:** Overgrowth  
 **ITEM:** None

 **TRAINER:** Liefelia / Liefia / Lief  
 **BADGES:** None  
 **POKÉMON:** Charmander  
 **LOCATION:** Pallet Town  
 **NICKNAME:** Sharlot  
 **GENDER:** Female  
 **LEVEL:** 5  
 **NATURE:** Rash  
 **ABILITY:** Blaze  
 **ITEM:** None

 **TRAINER:** Reginald / Reggie / Red  
 **BADGES:** None  
 **POKÉMON:** Squirtle  
 **LOCATION:** Pallet Town  
 **NICKNAME:** Armor  
 **GENDER:** Male  
 **LEVEL:** 5  
 **NATURE:** Adamant  
 **ABILITY:** Torrent  
 **ITEM:** None


	3. Chapter Two - Leaving Pallet Town

**An Adventure of New Expectations**

\- Chapter Two – Leaving Pallet Town –

All throughout the night, I found it very difficult to sleep as it was the "night before the big adventure". The anticipation, the worry, everything was just a little overwhelming for me to keep my head calm. Bud was asleep and I didn't want to disturb him so I just remained laying there on my bed with the Bulbasaur just to my left.

I looked over in the dark toward where my desk was; that is where I put the letter that Dad left for Lief, Red, and me. I read it before going to bed, again; I can be overly focused sometimes, but this was a pretty big deal.

I was thinking over what Dad had written in the letter and was questioning why he wanted 'us', three children who barely knew anything about the world, to change it, and we don't even know where to begin. Well, the first step as Dad had indicated was to take the Pokémon League challenge, but beyond that, I couldn't think of anything.

I fell asleep sometime in the middle of my muddled thoughts; maybe Lief or Red could help come up with something more solid once we had actually started our adventure.

I'm usually someone who woke up pretty easily in the morning feeling fine and refreshed. That, however, wasn't much the case this morning. Because of my incessant thoughts last night, I didn't get a lot of sleep so it should've been understandable why I didn't get up very well.

"Kenny! Time to wake up!" came a loud, high pitched voice near my right.

"Wah!" I woke up startled, raising my torso while pushing myself away from the source of the abrupt, loud noise. "L-Lief! D-don't do that!" I stuttered in exasperation to the culprit of the noise, my sister.

"Ow!" came a different voice than Lief's or mine on the left side of my bed. I quickly took a look at what happened and saw Bud sprawled on the floor on his side looking a little stunned.

"Bud! I'm sorry," I told the Bulbasaur while getting out of the bed to help him upright. "I didn't mean to knock you off the bed!" Bud grumbles a little out of discomfort but motioned that he was fine, nonetheless. I then turn my head to look at my sister who is laughing a little at the situation. "It's not funny Lief!" I complained to her, "That was mean! Why would you do that in the first place?" I finished with a question, standing up to move toward her.

"What? It was the perfect opportunity." Lief shrugs her shoulders as though she didn't do anything wrong. "You are usually up bright and early." The smirk on her face gets a little wider. "How can I not take advantage of the situation with you still asleep and me not?"

I stared at her with a dumbfounded expression on my face. I stated in disbelief, "But I never did this to you..." I trailed off a little, "I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, okay?" I finished with a nervous expression.

Bud walked up to my side while Lief merely looked at me for a while coming to an understanding about the reason behind my words. "It'll be alright, Ken. You don't have to be worried about what we're gonna be doing." my sister stated with a genuine smile on her face as she put her right hand on my shoulder to comfort me.

"Reggie and I will be with you on this journey, as well as our pokémon. Everything will be o-kay!" She ended her statement on a cheery note.

I stood there for a little while thinking over her words. Bud was merely looking up at me waiting for my response. "Red's not going to like you called him that." I stated, purposely focusing on the wrong part of her declaration, to distract myself, I suppose.

Lief lightly chuckles, "He's not here. If you or Bud don't tell him, then he won't know."

"Not true!" a high-pitched growly voice came from behind Lief. Bud, Lief, and I turned to look at the source of the voice, "I can tell him and he will know, whoever 'Red' is. You said the trainer of Squirtle, right?" the female Charmander, Sharlot, spoke conspiratorially.

"Eh, go ahead and tell him. I call him that all the time anyways so him knowing I called him that again won't really make much difference." Lief remarks not really caring in the end.

"Um, so to get on point," Bud began to speak to redirect the meaningless conversation everyone turned to look at him instead, "it's morning now, so we should eat breakfast and get ready to leave. As we discussed last night with your mother, she said that the first city we are going to is about a day's walk away."

"Right, if we want to get there before dark, we should leave as early as we can." I finished for my Bulbasaur.

Suddenly, I heard a knock at my opened door which Lief didn't close behind her when she entered my room a little while ago. "Good, it looks like you kids are awake." my mother commented from the doorway where she was standing. "Kenneth, when you finish getting dressed, I prepared breakfast for you all." she smiled pleasantly at us.

"Okay, Mom." I acknowledged her announcement. I then turned back to Lief. "Sis, I need to get dressed. Please, leave my room."

"Alright," my sister stated with a chipper tone, moving to follow my mother out of the room to presumably, head downstairs to the dining area, "I'll just have to eat all the food Mom prepared." she then closed the door behind her. I heard heavy footsteps from the stairs and then a loud "bang" at the end; Lief must have jumped down at the last few steps like she usually does. I sighed at her statement and her actions. "Alright, Bud. I'm going to get dressed now and then we'll eat and head on out to meet up with Red at the entrance to Route One."

"Okay," the Bulbasaur agreed while choosing to sit on the ground while I got dressed.

About an hour later, after eating breakfast, doing last minute checks of our supplies, a phone call confirmation from Red that we will be meeting him at the entrance to Route One shortly, a hug and kiss from Mom, and another impromptu race instigated by my sister which I chose to not participate in but still tried to keep up with her, I found myself practically out of breath, Lief cheering over a delusional "victory", and Red rolling his eye knowing of the situation and how I'd never choose to participate in my sisters whimsical actions.

"Well, we are finally here." Red commented while looking at the tall grass just outside the town, the entrance to Route One. "Not many people leave or enter town anymore. We will be the first since your Dad about half a year ago, not counting yesterday."

"I've got an idea!" Lief states excitedly. Red, Armor, Bud, Sharlot and I looked at her; Red and me out of concern because her ideas were usually not good for anyone, health wise, or otherwise. "We should have a practice battle with our pokémon before leaving town. It will be so epic!"

"What?" I murmured with nervousness.

"Why would we want to fight with our pokémon just before leaving?" Red stated in astonishment, "Even if it is a 'practice battle', we don't want our pokémon to be out of energy before we even begin our adventure."

"I know that!" Lief retorts, "But I was thinkin' about it and we don't know anything about pokémon battles. If we go out there without knowing what it means to actually fight, we can lose Sharlot, Bud, or Armor right as soon as we step in that tall grass." I contemplated what my sister said. She was right, although that didn't stop me from being concerned, overall.

"I actually think that that is a pretty good idea." the Squirtle, Armor, commented positively to Lief's idea. "We have been raise well by your father, but we haven't actually gotten battle experience. I can fight! But we haven't tried anything out, yet."

"I want to, too!" Sharlot stated with excitement. Bud merely nods his head in agreement with the idea.

Red sighed, "Alright, I guess you can think of a few good ideas, sometimes." Lief scoffed at that remark while Sharlot laughed a little at Lief's reaction. Red then paused to think over the idea a little more, "but no elemental attacks. Because each of our pokémon's element is naturally super effective and are weaknesses of each other; we might accidentally cause a lot of harm if we do that. Dodge, attack, and startle effect should be our plan for this practice battle, only. First direct hit, we end the battle for that pokémon."

"Fine!" Lief drawled the word out clearly indicating that she was not all that enthused about the idea that they couldn't go "all out" in the battle, practice or not.

"We should do a three-way battle, Armor versus Bud versus Sharlot." Red added in addenda to his original statement. "While it's not a 'normal' battle, we can't really expect wild pokémon to battle one-on-one, or even two-on-two, like sanctioned League battles might have. We might have a wild pokémon attack us while defending against another wild pokémon, or we might be going against a whole flock of pokémon." Red shrugged, "Who knows, it could be any possibility. We should be prepared, at least."

"Okay, I guess" I agreed again, but not very confidently.

"That's fine! Now, let's get into position!" The three of us move to form a triangular "combat field" between each of us with the pokémon right in front of their respective trainers.

"On the count of three, we begin!" Red stated aloud so that Lief and I can hear him pretty clearly, "One! Two!"

"Three!" both Red and Lief finished at the same time.

"Shar! Scratch that turtle until he is down!" Lief announced aloud, but cockily. Sharlot moved forward to do just that with about the same cocky attitude, as well.

"Armor, distract Sharlot with your tail, dodge her attack, counter by tackling her and keep your distance." Red offered Armor with a little more strategy than Lief's tactics. "Repeat, but watch out for Bud as well." Armor moved forward, confident that he would be able to successfully pull off Red's strategy.

As the two pokémon began to confront each other, I found myself to be very nervous and almost uncertain about what do; the anxiety was a little much. But I saw Bud looking back at me with an expression of confidence; I couldn't let him down. I may not be very experienced nor confident, but I do know pokémon well from all the time I spent reading about them. I could do this. I nervously stutter out a plan, "O-okay, Bud. Those two are p-probably going to fight each other a bit, but won't stay at each other for long. Keep your distance and growl at them at the appropriate time to unnerve them. Charge only when you have a clear target." Bud nodded in agreement to the plan and cautiously walked toward the two engaged in the fight.

Armor was taunting Sharlot with its tail and dodging out of the way of her scratch attacks by jumping over Sharlot's outstretched arm behind her and then reversed the offense by tackling the Charmander, clipping her shoulder.

"Tsk, hold still you squirt!" Sharlot attempted again with a series of scratch attack, but failing again as Armor merely repeated the process of distracting the Charmander with its tail, dodged the onslaught of scratches and summarily tackled Sharlot, again. "Ack" she yelled being clipped, again, this time more directly.

"I may be a 'Squirt'-le, but if it works, use what works." Armor declared facing Sharlot for another showdown.

"Shar!" Lief announced in concern, "Move back before it gets too serious!"

"Ha! Not a chance!" Red remarked in excitement. "Armor, finish Sharlot before she can recover!"

"Right!" Armor moved in to take the offense first and tackled the Charmander with a direct hit.

"No!" Lief yelled in astonishment. Sharlot stands up from the ground and struggles because of the injuries she obtained from the fight to walk to her trainer.

Red smirked in his short victory, "Charmander out! Now, quick, move to Bud!" he commanded Armor.

But before Armor could have made his attack, Bud sent out a loud growl at the Squirtle unnerving him making his charge ineffective and the Bulbasaur easily moved out of the way.

"Armor, don't directly attack Bud." Red directed to his Squirtle. "Ken won't be as impatient as Lief was."

Armor calmed his nerves nodding his head in acknowledgement of Red's statement and moved back to just a few steps away from his trainer while keeping his focus on the Bulbasaur. Bud did the same with me. The two remaining pokémon faced off against each other from a distance; an intense atmosphere veiled between the two waiting patiently for the next move.

"Lief is out." I noted. "Red's pretty good even though we haven't battled before. If this was a real battle, I don't think Sharlot could have survived with a couple more hits." I discussed with Bud loud enough for him to hear, but not Armor nor Red. "I don't really know the best move to make, but if Armor flails his tail at you, just ignore it." Bud nods his head. "Don't attack straight on. Move to his side or behind him and tackle him like he did with Sharlot. But if he charges you instead, growl at him again, and then attack him from behind or the sides."

While I was discussing the plan to Bud, Red did the same with Armor so that Bud and I couldn't hear. "Alright, here is what you are going to do." Red begins. "If we attack directly, you probably won't make it because you used a bit of energy taking on Sharlot and Bud is fresh as can be, plus Ken saw what we did earlier, so he won't be fooled if we tried the same thing. We will have to trick them a little to be sure to get a solid hit in." Armor glanced at his trainer, but kept his attention on his opponent. Red paused for a moment thinking of how to make his plan work. "Flail your tail again. I doubt it will distract him, but then faint a tackle by tucking into your shell then rolling behind him. Trip him then tackle."

"Now, Bud!" the Bulbasaur moved forward first toward the Squirtle.

"Armor, it's all yours!" Red announced immediately after I called for Bud to take action.

The two pokémon met near the center between Red and me. Armor started the action by flailing his tail while facing away from Bud. Bud, however, didn't react, and instead moved in a clockwise formation to the left of Armor. Bud was about to tackle him, but instead changed his attack to a growl as he saw that Armor had stopped flailing his tail and was about to tackle him instead. Bud sent a growl to Armor, but it was ineffective because the Squirtle tucked into its shell creating a buffer to the sound emitted by the growl and began rolling on the ground.

Bud, startled by this change-up was unable to move out of the way in time and was clipped in the legs. He fumbled a little, but was still able to hold himself upright enough to dodge a rear tackle from the Squirtle on its rebound. The two quickly turned to stare at each other for a second, and then charged directly at each other. Bud and Armor found themselves ramming their shoulders into each other.

Although Armor's hard body allowed him to withstand more damage than Bud's soft body, because Armor was not used to exerting a lot of energy just yet, he was finding it hard to breath quietly and it was harder to move without being stiff. As for Bud, he took most of the damage from the direct blow so he was on his right knees finding it difficult to hold his body up from the pain.

"Okay! I think that is enough!" Red announced to the two pokémon. "We can stop the practice battle, now!" He then walks up to his tired pokémon. "You did good, Armor"

I ran up to Bud taking a look at him to make sure he was alright. "Are you okay, Buddy?"

Bud nodded his head, "I'm fine. It hurts a little, but not much." I took out a potion from my bad to spray on the bruise that was developing on Bud's side.

"This should make it better." I stated finishing the potion. I then saw Lief walking towards Red and me.

"I guess it was a good fight, but it was so short." Lief complained a little disappointed, probably more because she was out so early more than because the practice battle itself was so short.

"Well, you can't really expect much." Red stated to appease Lief, but not really trying to. "Armor, Bud, and Sharlot are all beginner pokémon so it's to be expected that they won't have the energy to fight a long time or have the physical ability to withstand many blows. Pokémon may be strong, but until they are trained properly, they won't last long, especially since these guys have all been raise by your dad, and not in the wild."

"At lease we know what our pokémon can do, a little." I commented standing up. "But maybe we should avoid getting into too many battles until we get to Viridian City."

"Yeah, I suppose that would be best. We don't have a lot of supplies with us if things get heavy, maybe a few potions." Red looked through the supplies in his bag just to recount how many we would need and could afford once we got to Viridian City. "But our original plan was to stock up once we get to the Pokémon League outpost there. Pallet Town, unfortunately, doesn't have one because it's just a minor village compared to the rest of the region." Red sighed knowing that it would have been easier if we could've just had sufficient supplies before actually starting this adventure. "It makes it kind of hard if you are from a small village, though."

"There are a lot of small villages throughout the Kanto Region that are near major cities, according to the map on the pokégear." I stated not refuting Red's complaint of unfairness. "But yeah, there are no outposts in them."

"Well, we had our fun!" Lief changed her expression to being excited after getting over her earlier "loss". "But we should go now. I'd like to still have a little bit of daylight when we reach Viridian City." Lief then turned around toward the Route One entrance and began walking at a jovial pace calling out to her pokémon, "Let's go, Shar!" Sharlot follows behind her.

"Yeah, that would be best." Red agreed with Lief. "Come on Armor, Ken, Bud. Let's leave, too. We don't want Lief getting lost without us." Red said aloud throwing his bag over his shoulders and back while walking after Lief and Sharlot.

"Alright, Red, I'm coming. We're off, Bud!" I jogged to catch up to him with Bud at my side.

The six of us took our first steps out of the place we've known our whole lives into a whole new world we have yet to discover.

\- End of Chapter One – Leaving Pallet Town -

* * *

 **TRAINER CARD**

 **TRAINER:** Kenneth / Kenny / Ken  
 **BADGES:** None  
 **POKÉMON:** Bulbasaur  
 **LOCATION:** Pallet Town  
 **NICKNAME:** Bud  
 **GENDER:** Male  
 **LEVEL:** 5  
 **NATURE:** Calm  
 **ABILITY:** Overgrowth  
 **ITEM:** None

 **TRAINER:** Liefelia / Liefia / Lief  
 **BADGES:** None  
 **POKÉMON:** Charmander  
 **LOCATION:** Pallet Town  
 **NICKNAME:** Sharlot  
 **GENDER:** Female  
 **LEVEL:** 5  
 **NATURE:** Rash  
 **ABILITY:** Blaze  
 **ITEM:** None

 **TRAINER:** Reginald / Reggie / Red  
 **BADGES:** None  
 **POKÉMON:** Squirtle  
 **LOCATION:** Pallet Town  
 **NICKNAME:** Armor  
 **GENDER:** Male  
 **LEVEL:** 5  
 **NATURE:** Adamant  
 **ABILITY:** Torrent  
 **ITEM:** None


End file.
